Post on 14-Apr-2018
8/2/2019 ProMexico: Negocios Magazine: Larva Game Studios: Game On
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Photo COurtEsy OF LArvA GAME stuDIOs
JorgeMoralesisayoungentrepre-
neur fromGuadalajara, Jalisco,
whorefusestotakegameoverfor
ananswer,nomatterhowtoughthe
goinggets.Aftergraduatingfrom
the Tecnolgico de Monterrey
(ITESM) one of the countrys top private
universitieswithadegreeinComputerSys-
tems, he beganworking in themultimedia
sectordesigningwebpagesbutdeep inside
heknewhiscallingwasvideogames.
Ivebeenagamermywholelife.WhenIwas 11,I receivedmyrstvideogames:
Atari, Pac Man, Space Invaders and the
like,hesays.
Aroundthattime,afriendlentMorales
softwarethatallowedhimtocreatehisown
gaminglevelandthatswhenhewasbitten
bythevideogamebug.
Designing web pages allowed him to
makeadecentlivingbutitwasntlongbe-
forehedecidedtotakealeapoffaithand
startdevelopinghisownvideogames.
Businessdidntexactlygetofftoaboom-
ing start, though.His rst project was a
op. The tiny multimedia department at
thecompanywhereheworkednevergotoff
thegroundandwhenhispartnersinsisted
itwasalostcause,Moralessoldthemhis
sharesandwentonalone.
In2007,hepartneredupwithagroup
of Colombian investors and Immersion
GamesMexicoasubsidiaryofImmersion
GamesColombiawasborn.
Cell Factor: Psychokinetic Wars, a rst-personshootergameinwhichplayerscan
choose from superpowers like telekinesis,
teleportationandspeedrunning,waspro-
duced by Immersion Games Mexico for
XBoxandPlayStationconsolesandwasthe
rstvideogameMoraleslefthismarkon.
Whilewewere developing this game,
wemetalotofpeoplefromcompaniessuch
asSlangandTelevisaand thatswhenwe
beganworkingonLucha Libre AAA: Hroes
del Ring,inmid-2008,saysMorales.
ReleasedonOctober2010forXBox360
andPS3consoles,Lucha Libre AAA: Hroes
del Ringfaithfullyreproducestheworldof
Mexicanwrestling,asportthathasmillions
offansnotonlyinMexicobutworldwide.
In this virtual world, players don
the masks and personalities of Mexican
luchadores LaParca, DoctorWagner,
Abismo Negro, Psycho Clowns and
otherlegendarywrestlersastheyimmobi-
lizeeachotherwitharmlocks,executehigh
kicksandjumpfromtheropes.Some450,000copiesofthersteditionof
Lucha Libre AAA: Hroes del Ringwerepro-
duced.Morethanavideogame,itisaMexi-
canproductthathasfamiliarizedtheentire
continent with this iconic Mexican sport,
fromCanadaallthewaytoArgentina.
Over andbeyond itscommercial suc-
cess, this game opened the door to new
gamestudios.TheNationalCouncilonSci-
ence andTechnology (CONACYT, accord-
ingtoitsSpanishacronym)realizeditwasa
larva
gaMe studios:gaMe ontHis MexiCan video gaMe CoMPany is known For taking tHe
aCtion to tHe next level. in its sHort liFe, larva gaMe studios
Has beCoMe one oF MexiCos toP video gaMe develoPers, one
tHat does not know tHe Meaning oF gaMe over.
byantoniovzquez
38 Negocios
8/2/2019 ProMexico: Negocios Magazine: Larva Game Studios: Game On
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nichewithpotentialgrowththatwasworth
investingin,saysMorales.
FROM LARVA TO PUPA
By the timeMoralesandhisteamhadn-
ishedworkingonLucha Libre AAA: Hroes
del Ring, Immersion GamesColombiawas
trappedinadownwardspiral.Sobeforeits
subsidiaryinMexicowassuckedin,theyset
upanewcompany:LarvaGameStudios.
Thecompanystartedoutmakingvideo
games and doing animation for Televisa,butthe originalteamof 12 thatcomprised
ImmersionGamesMexicohassincegrown
toanarmyof45recruitsinvolvedinproj-
ectsforXBoxandPlayStationconsolesand
gamesforsmartphones,iPodsandiPads.
LarvaGameStudiosiscurrentlydevelop-
ingLast Day On Earth.Itsaboutanextrater-
restrial invasion, explains Morales. The
gamebeginswiththearrivalofhundredsof
thousandsofaliens,whomustbekeptatbay
bythehumans,whoareoutnumbered.Itsa
newgenreinwhichhumansliveinbunkers
andhavelimitedtimetocomeupwithastrat-
egybeforetheinvadersland.Whenyouwin
ground, you entrench yourself in the next
sectionand thestorybeginsalloveragain.
Youdeneyourstrategyagainsttheclock;we
havesetmines,barbedwireandcanons.The
gamewillbelaunchedonNovember2013.
Mexicosvideogameindustryischanging.
Notsolongago,consolecompanieslikeSony
andMicrosoftwerentinterestedinwhatwe
weredoingbutlastyear,Sonyinitiatedanin-cubationprogramforLatinstudiosandMi-
crosofthasfollowedsuit,saysMorales.
AccordingtoMorales,thenextlevelisto
consolidateMexicosstudios.Inveyears,
he forecasts,Mexicowillbe LatinAmeri-
casleadingdeveloperofvideogames,gain-
ingacompetitiveadvantageovercountries
likeBrazil,ChileandArgentinathathave
well-establishedindustries. n
www.larvagamestudios.com
nOt sO LOnG AGO,
COnsOLE COMPAnIEs LIKE
sOny AnD MICrOsOFt
wErEnt IntErEstED In
wHAt wE wErE DOInG
but LAst yEAr, sOny
InItIAtED An InCubAtIOn
PrOGrAM FOr LAtIn
stuDIOs AnD MICrOsOFt
HAs FOLLOwED suIt,
sAys MOrALEs.
MexiCos Partner larva game studios